Summer 2011 Second Look

Hey guys, I know it has been a while and as you know the in-between seasons are always quite slow for a little ol’ review sight like Anime Anthology. So I thought that you guys might to know what I think of the series so far after a couple weeks. The series I didn’t bother picking up or said I was dropping in the podcast hasn’t changed status. They are either still unwatched or dropped. I feel that my judgment on those were correct. Some of them I nailed on the head but others I’m surprised about. Mostly in a negative fashion though. I’m enjoying the summer line up so far and I think there are some pretty quality series. However, being roughly four to five episodes in none strike as a “must watch” possibility. For my past must watch series by now I see it coming. There is still plenty of room for improvement and plenty of time to really grab my attention. I can’t knock all of them out of the running just yet. Anyway let’s just hit down the list and get this thing going!

Dantalian no Shoka

The anime I thought was going to be a lot like Gosick. After watching the first few episodes I discovered it isn’t even close. Probably the only commonality is the main character Dalian to Gosick’s main character Victorique. Both are short, brilliant girls dressed in gothic clothing. Of course their tsundere personality only having their sites on the main male lead, in this case Huey. As a huge fan of Victorique I didn’t complain, but it doesn’t feel original. Probably because it is released so soon after Gosick I feel that it is a bit overplayed. Nevertheless it didn’t deter me from watching and I’m glad it didn’t. The series is probably one of my favorite out this season, easily making the top five and quite possibly top three. The story is pretty amusing and the mystical element makes things exciting. The episodes haven’t been completely consistent in terms of entertainment though. The first and second were brilliant. However, the third episode (and latest one I’ve watched) was a bit of a let down. The episode wasn’t a complete loss, it didn’t have the same intensity. I’m still enjoying the series and getting rid of the “boring” episodes early on is probably better than saving them till the end. Overall my hopes are very high for this one.

Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi

In my podcast I gave this series a pretty horrible first look. I actually bashed just about everything in it, and I don’t think I gave it any credit. After watching a few more episodes I will say that it is turning out just as I expected. I’m not entirely sure why I’m still watching it. The constant “I love you Taito” and talks about “being together forever” gets on my nerves quick. Even romance anime push me away when the leads are all gushy right from the get go. The entire series is filled with cliché and has everything you can think of from destiny lovers to an evil villain trying to tear them apart. They even managed to RUIN the cliché of dying for your love. I understand the main character’s “power” is the ability to die six times every fifteen minutes. I just didn’t think it would come down to actually dying six times multiple times per episode. As morbid as this may sound, I’m a find of the whole risking your life for the one you love. I just can’t get behind this one because he has to risk his life every second and comes back to life every time. The only thing that keeps me going is finding out why he didn’t die permanently in the second episode. What crazy trickery did they pull to bring him back yet again after the seventh death. My guess? His sweet vampire love that gave him the powers took away her immortality for him. Not really a big shocker and I’m pretty sure they want to die together anyway. Personally don’t pick this anime up quite yet until I give the final review. The potential is small, but not gone.

Double-J

Pretty simple – I find it funny. I still find these crazy, simple animation shorts worth watching. Two minutes of my life I don’t think I will regret. Pick it up and get a couple laughs. I actually think they are getting better as the season goes on.

Mawaru Penguindrum

Still my favorite series of the season because it has a unique story, good characters, and beautiful art style. My biggest compliment is the unique transformation scene that changes up little by little ever time. The series is gripping and funny, making a great combination to a different series. The reason I don’t see must see potential just yet is because the latest episode wasn’t too my liking. It progressed the story nicely and the mysterious Penguindrum is starting to unfold. There seems to be a much bigger plot developing as well (first-ish death of the series oOo~). I’m hoping they push away from the stalker arc a bit because I’m getting a bit tired of it. I’m sure it will come to that because there are still a couple characters they haven’t introduced according to the opening. I’m really looking forward to see how this series unfolds. Pick it up if you have the chance I’m sure it will at least be worth watching.

Mayo Chiki

Pretty obvious that this anime isn’t all that appealing to me. There are a lot of things that I find wrong with it, but I’m going to stick with it till the end. It is quite ecchi, a negative in my book. I’m not a huge fan of it in the first place, and the first couple episodes flashing back to breast grabbing wasn’t too appealing. Yet I find myself not minding the ecchi compared to another one of my anime pet-peeves. It is something that some of the worst romances have ever done. Something that can completely obliterate any sense of character development. It is the “cupid arrow effect”. The cupid arrow effect is when a character, in this case Konoe, blatantly falls in love with another character (Sakamachi) half way through the first couple episodes. The sudden shift from disgust to passion is irritating to say the least. I never understood where an anime is going or why they figure it is a good idea. Sure once I started watching I knew the two were fated to fall in love. It happens in ever anime. The first guy and first non-relative (or sometimes relative for THOSE anime) are the main romantic interest. This of course excludes harems in which the guy is too sissy to pick one or not manly enough to get them all. The characters aren’t that great since it seems like all of them have succumb to the cupid arrow effect. A kiss scene (with tongue probably) has already occurred. My hopes for the anime are very low, and there are only a couple things keeping me watching. This is teetering on the avoid and low priority watch seesaw.

The iDOLM@STER

At no point have I considered this a worth while anime. It isn’t very interesting. A light story with a couple gags and cute girls. The series is a simple slice of life comedy that takes you through the lives of aspiring idols. Of course the girls aren’t too great at the task and there are a lot of bumps along the way. None seem to be natural idols because of their small personality quirks. Each episode seems to be focused around a single character in order to “fix their problem” by the amazing new producer. From the first three episodes you get nearly nothing from the series other than bits of character develop and some cheap laughs. It wasn’t until episode four when I started to think that nothing everything is sunshine and puppy dog tails in the world of idols. The ending to the episode was bittersweet. Fixing one problems doesn’t mean you have fixed the person, or more specifically their personal life. The ending montage of the quiet Chihaya left my heart aching a bit. It was as though all I want to see now is her smiling face again. It was this short moment of sorrow that makes me think the series isn’t all that bad. Though I’m sure by the end I’ll be thinking, “What was the point of that?”.

No. 6

A solid series to say the least, probably one of the better for Summer 2011. It is heavily story driven with moments of suspense. The character development is going smoothly especially for the main character Nezumi. The strange and dark world outside of No. 6 is fascinating. I have a strange attraction to anime that have run down cities as their main scenery (like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Michiko to Hachin, etc.). It also seems to follow the trend of having an individual running from the law. However, unlike the anime I listed earlier it has a romance side to it as well. And no I’m not talking about between Sion and his childhood friend. I’m talking about the man-love going on between Sio and Nezumi. If you can’t it you must be blind or in a weird state of denial I've never even heard of. It is running in the background, but seems to be coming more prominent every episode. I’m hoping that they don’t play too much on it mostly because it takes away from the main plot. I’m not sure where this anime will go seeing as it has a lot of room for improvement and equal room for disaster. If they keep it up as they have I’m sure it will be a worth while watch. Hopefully the cowardly puppy Sion mans it up eventually. If not at least Nezumi will be there to save the day in an awesome badass way.

Usagi Drop

I’m a sucker for these anime. What can I say? I picked this up without a second thought. I didn’t need to watch a preview or test the waters. I knew right from the beginning this was going to be one of my favorites for the season. The art style is a lot like a coloring book. The colors are light and loose, fitting perfectly with the anime’s plot and atmosphere. The story isn’t something that will have you sitting at the edge of your seat, and the comedy isn’t something that will have you bent over in stitches. However, unless your heart is a black hole or your veins pump an ooze of hate, every episode will give you a nice fuzzy feeling. Rin is one of the greatest child characters I’ve ever watched. She is polite, well behaved and not overly cute. Her grown up attitude mixed with her occasional childish antics makes her my most lovable character of the Summer 2011 season. The interaction between her and Daikichi is envious. They get along extremely well and its touching. The way the other family members were treating Rin at the funeral was infuriating, which made Daikichi seem like a saint even though he was only doing what any normal adult would. A child left abandoned shouldn’t be scorned, they should be helped. If you haven’t picked up this series already I say give it a shot. It isn’t something that will blow your mind but it is a nice break from the hectic things of every day life.

Morita-san wa Mukuchi

Another anime Al and I bashed during our podcast. Five episodes in and I’m still thinking the same thing. It has a couple chuckles here and there, but for the most part it is pretty boring. The shorts seem to end a bit too abruptly and the characters aren’t interesting enough o keep track of. If you are desperate to watch something for a couple minutes and don’t find Youtube good enough then I guess you could check this out. Personally I think that you could spend your precious two minutes doing something a bit more entertaining.

Kamisama Dolls

This anime is turning out to be a lot better than I expected. I didn’t have low expectations or anything, but most anime like this tend to fall short of my overall satisfaction levels. The story seems to be picking up nicely and the characters are pretty fun to watch. They have it all from the cool powerful bruiser to the cunning evil genius. The main characters aren’t the best though. I’m not a huge fan of the background romance they are going for either. It takes a bit off the main plot. I’m afraid that they might be lighting the atmosphere a bit too much which will end up hurting later on. I’ll say that it does seem to be taking steps in the right direction though. The main twists and turns are just starting to develop and it seems like one of those anime to have a lot more coming. They can do a lot with the story to make it turn into a high priority watch, so far it is sitting as low priority. A bit more tweaks to character development might add to the dramatic effect created by the story.

Yuru Yuri

Yuru Yuri is obviously one of those guilty pleasure anime. There is no real reason to watch it other than the occasional cheap laugh and not-so-undertone yuri aspect. I’m surprised that the anime doesn’t have a lot of ecchi considering the theme and content of the episodes. Although it has the multiple fantasy works that many men desire, they keep everything pretty clean. Most of the time the jokes and yuri are revolved around nothing more than kissing. Anything beyond that is simply implied by ones own dirty mind. I don’t think that the comedy is all that great, but it isn’t horrible to watch. I’ve had a couple good laughs from the first couple episodes. It is starting to get repetitive though. It basically consists of one girl liking another girl in a non-friendly way, jokes following. It has all the cliché moments such as “practicing kissing” then getting caught and waterfalls of nosebleeds. Probably the one thing that I enjoy is the lack of main character presence. I love the ongoing gag of having the main character, Akirin, in the background most of the time. One scene where she is saying a monologue while other students begin sitting around her and blocking her from the camera kept me laughing for quite some time. The series isn’t one you should pick up unless you have some time to kill, but with so many other series out this season I couldn’t see you having any extra time!

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee

Probably another one of those anime that just gets to me in a way Usagi Drop does. A cute tale about a little girl from Japan that wants to learn more about French culture. When she gets there the culture shock is both fearful and amazing to her. Her cute mannerisms complete the show. I really like the relation between her and Claus, it seems very genuine. The small details of the show are also something to take note of. The opening is cute and very slice of life. After the opening the title of the episode appears which is then read in fluent French. While most people wouldn’t think much of it or probably even skip over it, I actually enjoy listening to the French dialogue. It makes the series seem more authentic. My history isn’t in top shape so I’m not sure how accurate it is, but as an average viewer I would say it does a good job engrossing you in the atmosphere. The art is bold and alluring. I would say pick it up if you are a fan of Usagi Drop. It doesn’t have as heavy of a story, but it does a good job for a slice of life. The bits of comedy here and there are a nice touch as well.

Nurarihyon no Mago 2

Simple as if you liked the first you will like the second. The story seems a lot better and from my roommate tells me it follows the manga decently. The art has made a lot of good changes and pushing away from the obvious CG. I’m really glad what they have done for the second season and look forward to the episodes to come.

Sacred Seven

I’m still on the fence about dropping this one because I have little interest in it. The story isn’t that great, and the characters are quite boring. It seems to be an anime that wont stand out amongst its genre. The art isn’t bad and the modeling is pretty nice, however, everything else about it brings it down. It isn’t low budget just low enjoyment.

Kami-sama no Memo-chou

Another one that I’m looking forward to. The genre is another mystery with the twist of NEETs. A part of me thought back to Eden of the East for a specific scene of NEETs helping the common public. Of course this series is nothing like Eden of the East because it hasn’t quite wow’ed me just yet. It seems to me like it will have the basic format of one episode dedicated to starting the story and the next solving the case. Some of the cases are quite straight forward but it is nice to see how everything unfolds. It is hard to say whether or not this will seem repetitive later on, but so far I’m liking it. The characters are what make this series so special. Alice, the lead of this unexpected team of helpers, is a tsundere NEET. Not something I expected to see. The other NEET helpers are pretty cool as well. The main character, the only non-NEET in the group, is probably my least favorite. It is something about his go-to attitude and nice guy persona that makes me think he is lame. Maybe I’m a little twisted? This is probably an anime you should pick up for the season, I’m enjoying it so far and expected some big things from it.

Blood-C

I’m a fan of the Blood series. I enjoyed Blood+ tremendously, and couldn’t wait for this to come out. Sure the first episode was boring. So was the second. Third and fourth. But there is hope isn’t there? Probably not. The series is losing my interesting fast and I don’t see it getting much better. They are hinting at a story, but I don’t think that it will make up for the series. it seems more focused on cute characters and silliness than hardcore action. The fights all end up the same way. She jumps in, hits the beast a few times, gets beat up, almost dies, eyes turn red, kills the monster. I still wonder how she can end up going to school. She never changes her outfit and its riddled with holes and blood stains. And for such a small town that has only one of everything, how does no one else notice these monsters? They aren’t exactly hidden very well. The series is too slice of life and not enough action. Get it together Blood-C you have a lot of work to do. Don’t pick this up because I suspect an avoid watch notice in the full review.